Etymology

The name Korea derives from the name Goryeo. The name Goryeo itself was first used by the ancient kingdom of
Goguryeo in the 5th century as a shortened form of its name. The 10th-century kingdom of
Goryeo succeeded Goguryeo,[48][49][50][51] and thus inherited its name, which was pronounced by visiting Persian merchants as "Korea".[52] The modern spelling of Korea first appeared in the late 17th century in the travel writings of the
Dutch East India Company's
Hendrick Hamel.[53] Despite the coexistence of the spellings Corea and Korea in 19th century publications, some Koreans believe that
Imperial Japan, around the time of the Japanese occupation, intentionally standardised the spelling on Korea, making
Japan appear first alphabetically.[53][54][55]

After Goryeo was replaced by Joseon in 1392, Joseon became the official name for the entire territory, though it was not universally accepted. The new official name has its origin in the ancient country of
Gojoseon (Old Joseon). In 1897, the
Joseon dynasty changed the official name of the country from Joseon to Daehan Jeguk (
Korean Empire). The name Daehan, which means "great Han" literally, derives from
Samhan (Three Hans). However, the name Joseon was still widely used by Koreans to refer to their country, though it was no longer the official name. Under
Japanese rule, the two names Han and Joseon coexisted. There were several groups who
fought for independence, the most notable being the Provisional Government of the Republic of Korea (대한민국 임시정부/大韓民國臨時政府).

Following the
surrender of Japan, in 1945, the Republic of Korea (대한민국/大韓民國,
IPA: ˈtɛ̝ːɦa̠nminɡuk̚, literally "Great Korean people's country"; listen) was adopted as the legal name for the new country. Since the government only controlled the southern part of the
Korean Peninsula, the informal term South Korea was coined, becoming increasingly common in the
Western world. While South Koreans use Han (or Hanguk) to refer to the entire country, North Koreans and ethnic Koreans in China and Japan use the term Joseon as the name of the country.